Matsuri Ramen

I’m actually in love with this place. I love the simple/​minimalistic touch of the décor and I love the ramen! I came here with my husband on Saturday night around 6pm-​ish and it wasn’t busy at all. We were seated right away and tended to immediately.
I ordered the Dragon Ramen (spicy level 1) with extra chashu because I know most ramen places don’t really give out a lot of chashu pieces. The noodles were nice and firm and the broth was thick and spicy! And the extra chashu pieces were SO worth it because it’s probably the best tasting meat I’ve had from any ramen joint I’ve been to. I love their little wooden ladles that act as the spoon. It makes me feel like I’m eating a traditional ramen or something lol.
I honestly forgot what my husband ordered, but he loved the bowl he got too! Except for the egg. I think he said the egg wasn’t as great as he usually likes. But he loved the broth, could’ve been more thicker, but still pretty filling.
We ordered a scoop of green tea ice cream at the end of our meal and it was delicious! They gave a lot of whipped cream and two pieces of pocky in it. Perfect dessert to our dinner.
I’d definitely come back here for the Dragon Ramen. I’m still thinking about it and it’s making me hungry.

I tried the best seller Ramen with garlic soup. I like it because its very flavor full,
But i think its a bit salty so I ordered corn on the side which help balanced the soup. Their takoyaki is also very delicious. Iy was served hot and the waitresses are very attentive

Place went downhill after it changed owners or names from Men-​oh. Broth is bland and lost it’s pork complexity it had before. The toppings got too fancy, and the broth has been thrown out the window? The spice is just grainy and doesn’t have the same kick it had before that complemented the deep, savory and hearty pork bone broth of yesteryear. And one of the waiter sucks pretty bad, idk her name but she has a piercing and multiple bad experiences with her. So sad :(

The traditional ramen was OK but the Karage donburi which comes with mayo and rice was not good. The chicken was too chewy.
I miss the old place that was here. This feels like a bit of a downgrade. The waitress who stayed through the new ownership is super sweet.
This did not influence the rating… there was this super obnoxious guy who was visiting next to us… kept slurping his food super loudly… talking to someone loudly on speaker phone… and wait for it… lifted a bum up and then farted loudly… WTF…super rude

This is my go-​to Ramen spot. I’ve had a variety of their different broths, my favorite being the Black garlic. I usually get this with takoyaki or chicken karage on the side and I also add kakuni (pork belly) too my ramen.
Today, they served my ramen almost perfect, however the kakuni was a little cold. I let my server know and right away, they cooked up a new set, no questions asked. In fact, after serving the new one, they waited for me to confirm that it was just right and that if I had any other concerns to let them know.
This is an example of great service and also another reminder of why I come here. Most Asian restaurants I go to don’t care about their patrons, but not here.

Matsuri may not be the best ramen in the area but they are surely consistent and spicy enough. Service is always quick and there dried garlic chips on each table to add to your ramen for that extra garlicky kick. Their rice bowls are good too. Prices are comparable to other ramen joints. ⁴⁄₅ stars

I have to say… This was the most underwhelming ramen I have had yet. But I guess that’s what I get for trying to avoid the long waits of the other ramen spots in the area.
I had bookmarked this place a while back, and I remember coming here before when it was Men Oh Tokushima. I was not impressed with the old spot and figured it’s a new place, why not give it a try. Plus it’s closer to where I live than the spot I usually go to.
I came in super hungry and started off with an appetizer of agedashi tofu. I normally really like agedashi tofu because is a light & crispy, yet satisfying appetizer. What I got was not what I’ve had at other places. The tofu was soggy, like it was pre-​fried and was swimming half way submerged in this soupy sauce that was super salty and overly fishy in taste. It was served to me in a bowl with a soup spoon and no appetizer plate. I guess I was supposed to eat it straight out of the bowl it was served in? Luckily I was eating alone because if I had to share the appetizer… I don’t know how that would work with no appetizer plates, although I couldn’t even finish more than one bite of the tofu so I don’t know. Lol. Too bad.
On to the main… I couldn’t decide what kind of ramen I wanted to order so I had asked the waitress what she recommended. She asked if I liked spicy or not spicy. I told her either is fine and asked her what’s her favorite. She said the dragon ramen in mild is good, so I went with that. When my ramen came out I was so excited! It’s been so cold and I was all stoked about trying a new place, I couldn’t wait to dig in.
First off, the broth was nice and hot. I remember the place before served me room temp ramen so that was a relief. There was a nice whole soft boiled egg in my bowl and that was the first thing I had attacked. Despite the yolk being ice cold, it was perfectly cooked and once I cracked it open and submerged it in the hot broth, it was all good. That egg is one of the two stars you see on my review. The noodles were also very nice, hearty and thick and had a good bite to them. That’s the other star on this review. The egg and the noodles are the stars… Other than that, this ramen had absolutely zero flavor. It’s like they forgot to add salt or something, I don’t know what it was but it clearly was missing something. The cha siu that was in my bowl was extremely tough, unlike the other ramen places I’ve been to where it just falls apart once you bite it. I didn’t like it. The viscosity of the broth was good, it had a rich texture to it but just seriously lacked flavor. Luckily the noodles were heavy and filled me up quick because I could not finish a bowl of flavorless ramen and be happy! I was really bummed to tell you the truth and felt like my meal was a waste of my hard earned dollars. Oh well, live and learn I guess.
Second chance? Most likely not. I still have my favorite ramen spot in the area…

I’m really into the music here. It’s like deep house. Low key and great for eating. But this isn’t a review for music. It’s a review for the culinary arts!
Alright here goes.
Presentation: They have these really cool wooden spoons that are fun to eat with. (See photo)
Ramen: The 3 stars is for the Ramen. Strictly. I ordered (and attempted to eat) the Black Dragon Ramen and ramped the spicy level up to a 3 (me like spicy!) It was alright. The broth was way too thick– very stewy. I appreciate the full egg (it came a little cold though…, but a full egg nonetheless)
Service: weird man. It’s just a little weird and uncomfortable here. The servers weren’t exactly the nicest and not the most accommodating. There was a pretty cute gal, but she didn’t serve our table.

I think we wanted hot pot but they didn’t have it available when we went on Sunday nights. Too lazy to go elsewhere, we made it work. I had the black garlic tonkatsu ramen with the kakani rice bowl. My friend had the negitoro bowl with a takoyaki appetizer. Food was alright. Decent broth and noodles. I’ve never had kakani before but its similar to pork belly. Mmmm. I also got to try one takoyaki and it was pretty good too. But it’s decent considering you’re in Union City and if you didn’t want to drive far. Oh and we sat at one end of this huge table and shared with another group at the other end. Waitress was attentive and friendly. Food came out quickly. And it’s located in the same plaza at the Marina supermarket so plenty of parking. Hopefully next time, we can make it for hot pot.

My dad and I came here on a Friday afternoon when it was completely empty. He had been raving about how great this place is, so I just had to try. We were seated immediately, and I already spotted the ramen that I wanted, like love at first sight. DRAGON RAMEN. That just screams intensity. Dragon Ramen has seaweed, green onion, soft boiled egg, kikurage, spinach, pork, chili pepper, and special sauce. Sizable portion and sufficiently spicy.
The most notable thing about this restaurant is the ability to customize the thickness of the soup base and firmness of the ramen noodles. This holds a special place in my heart because of how picky I am with my ramen. Thin soup base with firm noodles is the way to go! They made my Dragon Ramen perfectly, and I was very satisfied. On top of that, we had an excellent waitress with an upbeat personality that was attentive to all her customers. Overall wonderful bonding experience with my dad over delicious warm ramen.

We both ordered the spicy dragon ramen: broth pretty bland, needed to add more spicy seasoning and garlic. Limited toppings, one piece of pork, slightly overcooked. The noodles were decently chewy. Did have a wonderful pouched egg inside. ⁵⁄₁₀ I’ve had a lot of ramen before and the consistency is about the same, this location just has a lot less toppings than most.
Negitoro: a large chunk of delicious fatty tuna under a nice serving of jasmine rice. Our waitress recommended to put soy sauce on it and it made it tastes 5 times better. ⁹⁄₁₀.
Yakitori: nice large pieces, octopus inside was very chewy. The batter of the Yakitori was firm on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. Although there was too much sauce on it, very delicious. ⁹⁄₁₀.
The ramen place has meal deals. To add the Yakitori to one of the orders of ramen it was an extra 3 dollars, to add the negitoro to the other order of ramen it was an extra 5.50.
The total for the 2 ramen and the 2 extras came out to be 31 dollars before tip.
The servers here are so attentive and polite, it made the food so much better.

Went for dinner around 8pm and the place was packed. Expect to wait about 10 – 15 minutes depending on how busy and how big your party is. They had two large tables for bigger groups and some two seater tables.
I really like that they offer sets on their menu, where you can get your choice of ramen plus an appetizer/​rice bowl. Their appetizers are a bit pricey on its own, so it was nice that you can add it on to your ramen. I ended up ordering the dragon ramen spicy level 1 and regular broth and noodles. For my appetizer I got the takoyaki. My bf got the same ramen and the negitoro. I was a bit hesitant about the negitoro just because in the pictures it looked strange, and I had never tried anything like it before. Our waitress was helpful and recommended it and I was really glad she did. The appetizers ended up being the best part of our meal. The takoyaki was good. The inside was chewy and the batter wasn’t soggy, which is something I always look for. They were pretty heavy with the sauce though, which was a bit overpowering. The negitoro was great! My favorite out of everything. Mix it up and add some soy sauce, deelish! I would definitely come back just for the negitoro.
The ramen was okay. Not the worst, but definitely not the best. I really didn’t like the spoon they had. It was so bulky and weirdly shaped. Like others have mentioned, I found the broth to be bland. The noodles were good, the egg was good, the pork was good, but the broth just didn’t do it for me. I added some seasoning and garlic and it helped a little but if broth is good, I shouldn’t have to do add stuff. It was nice that they had free tea but the tea tasted like dish water.
All in all, this place wasn’t horrible. I enjoyed my food for the most part and will most certainly be back for the negitoro. The service was nice and I appreciated how attentive they were to refilling our water/​tea. But the ramen, which should be the star of this place, didn’t shine.

Matsuri was a pleasant surprise. Although not great, it wasn’t terrible by any means. I would actually say Matsuri is a great place to go if you’re dying for ramen but not willing to wait forever to be seated (i.e. Orenchi, Ramen Dojo, etc.).
SERVICE: Excellent. Everyone working in Matsuri is super nice. Our server took her time explaining everything and made some recommendations.
CHICKEN KARAAGE ~ 3 stars: Decent but not great. In fact, I think the chicken karaage at Orenchi is the best I’ve ever had (FYI, it’s the only thing at Orenchi I rave about because their ramen is, in my opinion, very overrated) and Matsuri doesn’t come close. However, the chicken is fried really well and the dipping sauce is pretty damn good. Just like their ramen, if you have a craving for karaage, get this. It’ll do the job.
SPICY DRAGON TONKATSU RAMEN ~ 3.5 stars: If you like tonkatsu ramen and you dig the heat, order this. Don’t even think about anything else. The broth is pretty good and it has a nice kick. Served with some pork slices, egg and a few other toppings, this bowl really satisfied my ramen cravings. The noodles were nice and chewy, and it never lost it’s texture even while sitting in the warm broth.
Like I said, if you NEED ramen but you’re not willing to wait a lifetime, go to Matsuri!

Yeeees. Another ramen place that uses legit tonkotsu broth.
I love the quaint ambience of Matsuri. From the loud greetings of the workers to the music to the closely-​spaced tables, it’s pretty much what I imagine a ramen house in Japan to be like. That, of course, set the expectations bar pretty high for Matsuri. I came here on two occasions — the first, I ordered the Matsuri Ramen, which has a tonkotsu shoyu broth base, and the second, I ordered the Kuro Tonkotsu Ramen, which is the black garlic tonkotsu ramen. Between the two, the Kuro Tonkotsu is definitely the winner. Bolder flavor all around.
Both ramen, though, came chock full of goodies: chashu slices, spinach, kikurage, seaweed, and a perfect soft-​boiled egg.
So why three stars? Even though they use thick tonkotsu broth, it’s not quite as flavorful as I’ve had at other ramen shops. Matsuri is a great stop if you’re a ramen lover, but I’m not sure if I would make the drive out just to try it. The price and size are comparable to other ramen places in the area.

Last night we stopped in Matsuri Ramen which took both the spaces of Men Oh Ramen and Shabuway Shabu. We thought since they still serve both shabu and ramen we would try both. It’s my opinion that Shabuway did shabu and Men Oh did ramen better then Matsuri does both. Gone are the selection toppings, garlic, radish, green onions etc for the shabu. The level 1 Dragon Ramen tonkatsu broth was bland & gritty., not creamy. Additional items Chicken Karrage, and Negitoro rice bowl were good.
They are still riding the clientele that both of the other two previous restaurants had built up and was reasonably busy. They closed off the front door of Shabuway and uses it as storage spot. So stacked there in the front window are extra chairs, table, and restaurant supplies. Tacky Tacky and is a fire exit hazzard.
Service was about the same as before. Plenty of parking.

Better than what it used to be (Men Oh) but not quite 4 stars in my book.
Same waitress as when this place was Men Oh. She provides great service and is amazing for not going crazy for tending to all of the restaurant’s tables.
The ramen is a step up but not great. The portions and appearances are now comparable to other ramen places in the area. I got the tsukemen Matsuri. The noodles were fine, the meat was fine, and the other tid bits in it were fine but holy moly was the broth salty and fatty-​tasting. The broth has flavor but I seriously couldn’t drink it. My brother who got the regular Matsuri ramen felt the same way. You have the option of ordering the broth regularly, lighter, or stronger. Maybe I’ll go lighter next time if I order the same thing.

I would say this place is more like 4.5 stars, my experience wasn’t flawless (which is what 5 stars is to me), but pretty damn close and I’d be well happy being a regular here. Unfortunately, I don’t normally live in Union City anymore and I’m saddened by the fact that I can’t have Matsuri’s delicious ramen everyday. When this place was Men Oh, I considered it a 3 star restaurant; everything was tasty, but missing a wow factor that would make me beg for more. Now, even after stuffing myself, I’m *still* thinking about that tsukemen!
~ Atmosphere:
The décor hasn’t really changed from when this place was Men Oh. It’s a small place with only a handful of tables, so be wary that they can fill up quite quickly. It’s sleek and clean with a modern twist on a traditional Japanese ambiance.
~ Customer Service:
Great! We were served by a Mandarin-​speaking waitress (my Uncle needed some explanation of all the different soup bases) who was funnily enough from Sweden. Food came out quickly as well. Only downside is although I ordered a Combo A, they only gave me the tsukemen portion and I missed out on the side. Unfortunately I forgot about it until we already finished our meals and I noticed something was off, but I couldn’t be bothered at that point anymore.
~ Food:
I had the Tsukemen with Matsuri broth (you could choose to either have it with the regular or spicy broth). Mind, this was the first time I’ve ever had tsukemen so I don’t have anything to compare it to, but it was absolutely delicious. The noodles were thick and had a very tasty chewy consistency and the broth was so rich. When it’s a hot day outside, tsukemen was an absolutely perfect and refreshing treat. I also had some Gyoza and really enjoyed it; there was plenty of juice inside them unlike dried out gyoza at most places!
—
Before I head back home to the UK, I’m definitely coming back to treat myself to some tsukemen one last time!

I came here with a couple of friends because we were craving ramen and were curious to why they replaced Menoh (previous ownership). I ordered Combo B, which comes with takoyaki and whichever choice of ramen you decide on. I got the Matsuri ramen with an extra egg and bamboo shoots. How I judge «good» ramen is based on their broth and texture of their noodles. I understand all ramen places have different broth so not every restaurant will be the same.
The Matsuri broth was tonkotsu shoyu, and shoyu is basically my favorite type of broth. If I had to rate the broth, it would be 3, but I will round up to a 3.5 for the entire meal + service was quick and efficient as well, but it’s no where near Orenchi, Santouka or Ramen Dojo for me; however if I was craving ramen and did not want to make the drive to the South Bay, then I would not mind coming back.

We came here last night craving ramen. After a quick Unilocal,we thought we give this place a go.
SERVICE:
Quick and friendly. Always refilled our cup of water without us having to ask.
FOOD:
–Matsuri Ramen: I was really disappointed in this ramen. The soup was extremely salty! I was only able to drink down a few spoonful. As for the soup, tonkotsu is suppose to be rich and milky. It is suppose to be cooked for hours. This soup base was the opposite. It was thin and lacking in the meatiness that is tonkotsu broth. The chashu was tough and dry; far from the melt in your mouth chashu that I am use to. Menu description said it was suppose to come with spinach, however baby bok choy (?) was substituted (without informing us). The yolk was not runny for the half boiled egg.
–Takoyaki: Mediocre. It was more batter than anything. A small piece of octopus lies in the center of the batter.
Sadly I don’t think I would be returning to this establishment anytime soon.

I’d like to give this place 3.5 stars.
I ordered the dragon ramen, which is spicy tonkotsu ramen. it comes with seaweed, half a boiled egg, spinach, and chashu. I think it needs to come with more toppings though. I added corn, bamboo shoots, and kikurage mushrooms. The waitress misunderstood me though because she charged me for kakuni and it was $ 2 more. Oh well, they put it in my soup, and I still ate it haha. They didn’t charge me for the kikurage mushrooms though. Anyways, the broth didn’t have much flavor and it wasn’t spicy for me even when I got spicy level #3. I mean, you can taste the kick but it’s nothing. I didn’t really like the kakuni and the chashu either but the noodles, corn, and everything else was deeeelish.